


Launch

by whenyoudesertme (phrenk)



Series: Androids [2]
Category: Arashi (Band), Japanese Actor RPF, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Robots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-29
Updated: 2011-10-29
Packaged: 2017-10-25 01:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/270174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phrenk/pseuds/whenyoudesertme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jun comes home for a visit and makes the most of his time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Launch

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to kinoface for beta-reading! ♥ Cross-posted [here](http://whenyoudesertme.livejournal.com/23161.html).

\-- _SET-UP_

One floor of the house was consistently unoccupied.

The basement was laboratories, where Sho spent much of his time, the first floor was living spaces, where Sho ate (but didn't cook), watched the news (alone), and bathed (also by himself, despite Aiba's efforts toward communal bathing), and the second floor had three bedrooms, in one of which Sho slept, plus the larger living room.

Sho was not allowed in the attic, but no one except Jun was.

Jun had his own apartment closer to his agency's office, the television studios, and the many other places his work as an idol took him. Every time he came home, which was rarer than any of them would like, he ignored Sho's greeting and Aiba's attempted hug, and went first thing to make sure his room hadn't been invaded, and then he cleaned it.

When Jun got home that afternoon, he brushed past Sho, evaded Aiba, and wrapped his arms around Nino and squeezed until the android couldn't breathe. It took a much longer time than it would with a human but was no less painful, at least according to Nino's complaints, though Sho noticed Nino was squeezing Jun right back.

Then, putting off Sho's attempted introduction of Ohno, Jun headed up to his room.

+  
\-- _CONFESSION: PART ONE_

Dinner that night was a festive affair. Jun took over the kitchen, as he usually did when he was home, and Aiba went out and bought enough alcohol to send even the androids into drunken comas.

Sho and Ohno decided to go for a walk while the preparations were being made, given that Jun had booted them out of the kitchen. They invited Nino, but were refused on account of Nino needing to order all the games that had come out since he'd been dead. Sho just gave him a credit card and patted him on the head.

They walked down the path from their house to the street, slapping at mosquitoes and sharing a comfortable silence. A sliding touch on Sho's hand made him look down to see that Ohno was reaching to hold it again.

"Satoshi," Sho said, not frustrated but certainly confused.

"Some people say," Ohno said, then paused. Sho wondered if he meant humans or androids, and when they had said it, considering Ohno had only been woken up the day before. "That, that an android imprints on whoever kisses them awake."

"Ah," Sho said, uncomfortable.

"But I don't think that's true. No one programmed me to like fishing, Sho-kun."

Sho tilted his head, following the android's logic. "But someone did program you, I mean. How do you know what they programmed and what's just you?"

Ohno rested a hand on his own chest, thinking about it. His other one reached out, and this time Sho let him grab on. He laced his fingers through Ohno's, wondering why it felt right.

"Androids are far too complex to be programmed completely," Ohno said at last. "Looking around, I have feelings about these trees, and there are scents in the air that I like, and ... and I like how these underwear feel, very soft. No one sat at a computer and said, 'This android likes soft underwear,' Sho-chan."

"We should go buy you your own underwear, Satoshi. I think those are soft because Aiba-chan has worn them a million times."

"I don't mind."

Sho minded, though he wasn't sure why. It's not like he wanted Ohno to wear _his_ underwear, that much he was sure of.

"So you're not imprinted on me. Then why..." Sho wanted to ask why Ohno always tried to hold hands with him, but he didn't want to hurt the android's feelings. Back before he and Aiba had gotten Nino, he wouldn't have said an android had feelings, but he knew better now.

"I like you."

Sho clutched at Ohno's hand, trying not to stumble on the gravel path and die.

"SHO~~~CHAN!!"

"Aiba-chan is in a good mood," Ohno murmured fondly.

"Thanks to you," Sho said, trying to calm his heart-rate after Ohno's confession. They started back up the path, still holding hands, to meet Aiba and help him carry in all the booze.

+  
\-- _DRINKING ALL THE BEER_

"To Satoshi," Nino said, holding his glass up over the ruins of their much-enjoyed meal. "The only person in this room who isn't a complete idiot, besides myself."

"The company said there was no way, but I still tried," Aiba said, but he was smiling. He hadn't stopped smiling for hours, it seemed like.

"Rice," Sho said, shaking his head.

"Androids don't really get fixed," Jun said, furrowing his brow. "I've never heard of one going back to the company for repairs and returning healthy."

"Conspiracies later," Ohno said, looking like 'later' might be 'never'. "Celebrating now."

"Cheers!" Aiba shouted, slopping beer all over the table. After the gulping down of beer was temporarily complete, everyone leaned back and settled in, comfortably full.

"Jun-kun," Ohno said. "Your pasta was the best thing I have ever eaten in my life."

Jun drew his eyebrows together, clearly wondering if the android was mocking him, considering Ohno's life had started only the day before. When he was met only with Ohno's earnest eyes, he softened visibly, and muttered his thanks.

"What are you going to do with two androids?" Jun asked gruffly.

"What are you going to do with two eyebrows?" Nino returned pleasantly.

"What am I going to do with all this beer?" Aiba said, then answered himself: "Drink it!" He chugged his glass sloppily, then held it out to Jun for a refill.

"Satoshi isn't going to want to stay with you if you're so foul," Jun said.

"I can't leave," Ohno said, then considered. "Can I?"

"Do you want to?" Aiba asked, and Sho felt suddenly clammy with nerves.

"Hmm," Ohno said, non-committal.

"Don't pester Oh-chan," Nino said. "It takes a while to figure out what you want and what's programmed."

"Does not," Ohno said, pushing his lower lip out at Nino.

"Well, you are a beautiful and unique snowflake, then," Nino said, laughing when Ohno just nodded.

+  
\-- _CONFESSION: PART TWO_

They all drank far too much and ended up collapsing in the larger living room, though Jun abandoned them for his own space when he stirred in the middle of the night.

Sho woke up the next morning with Ohno's head in his lap, which had him panicking for half a second before he realized the android was fast asleep.

"Weird, huh?" Nino's voice startled Sho, not only because he wasn't expecting it, but because he'd half thought he might wake up and find that Nino's revival was all a dream.

"Nino," Sho said, not stopping to think about it. "Don't tell Aiba-chan, but you're my best friend. I promised myself if we got you back, I'd tell you."

"He knows, Sho-chan," Nino said, not exactly smiling but visibly content. They looked at each other for a moment, quiet.

Sho looked back down at Ohno. "I've never seen you sleep before. I didn't think androids did."

"We usually don't," Nino said. "We certainly don't need to."

Ohno's eyes fluttered open. "Sleep is delicious," he said, then yawned widely. Sho tried not to stare at how cute he was.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," Nino said. Sho edged out from under Ohno and chased Nino out of the room, Nino laughing all the way. He caught up to Nino in the big lab and shoved him into the vat of rice.

"If you say something like that to Aiba-chan, he will cry," Sho threatened.

"That's why I said it to you. You know, this is kind of comfortable. I could almost be tempted into trying this sleep Oh-chan says is so delicious."

"I'm leaving. And locking the door behind me."

"Sho-chan."

Sho turned at Nino's tone.

"You're my best friend, too." Nino didn't blink, or flush, or make it into a joke in any way. Sho felt grounded by the solid warmth inside, filling him up.

Nino smirked, adding, "And you should tell Aiba-chan that. It'll be fun to watch when he gets jealous."

"Because he's dense," Sho agreed, smiling.

"Someday he'll catch on."

"I've heard that if you just tell someone you li--"

"Sleeping now, Sho-chan! How rude are you, babbling on when I'm trying to sleep for the first time in my whole life."

"Goodnight, Nino." Sho walked away, shaking his head at Nino's stubbornness. Then, taking the extremely rare opportunity to get the last word with Nino, he said, "I really am locking the door."

"Hey!"

+  
\-- _A DROWSY ANDROID TEMPTATION_

Sho met Ohno on the stairs.

"I thought sleep was delicious?"

"Somehow my pillow escaped me." Ohno was pouting, which was a new expression on him for Sho's eyes, and it was not without its effect. Sho wrapped an arm around Ohno's shoulders and tugged him up the stairs.

"You can sleep in Aiba-chan's room, okay?"

Ohno didn't answer but let himself be led, and there was no protest when Sho tucked him into Aiba's futon. Sho half hoped and half feared to be asked to stay, but that didn't happen, and Ohno only smiled when Sho said he'd be back in an hour to wake him up for breakfast. He looked so warm and cozy, all wrapped up with only his head peeking out, and Sho was hard-pressed to leave the room alone.

After that, instead of sleeping, he went downstairs and let Nino out of the lab before he could destroy anything vital to their work.

+  
\-- _BREAKFAST, OR FORMULATING A PLAN_

"What, no breakfast?" Nino asked, coming into the kitchen. He came over to lean against Sho, saying, "Good morning again, best friend."

"You're a dick," Sho said fondly, leaning right back into Nino.

"I decided to make your favorite, Nino," Jun said, rustling around in the refrigerator. He pulled out a large plastic bag and began distributing convenience store bento boxes.

"Fried chicken!" Aiba yelped happily, perking up from his slump over the counter.

"My favorite isn't fried chicken," Nino said, frowning.

"I bought these from the little store two blocks away. They were convenient, they're cheap, and on top of that they're about to expire, so they were half-price."

Nino stared at Jun. "You should come home more often."

"He hasn't been home since we lost you," Aiba whispered loudly. Jun just shrugged, not debating the point.

"What'd you get, Satoshi?" Sho asked, smiling across at the quiet android.

"Curry," Ohno said reverently. "It is my new favorite. Jun-kun is my favorite person."

Sho stifled a pang.

"You know I didn't make that, right?" Jun said.

"You are the provider of all good things."

"Hey, I bought the beer. You liked that," Aiba said. Ohno nodded, mouth full of curry.

"I took you fishing," Sho said, wishing he'd keep his mouth shut.

"Ah, that's true."

Nino put his chin in his hands, tilting his head this way and that. "For Oh-chan's birthday, we should take him fishing, bring along curry and beer, and nap afterward."

"I don't have a birthday," Ohno said, just as Aiba put in, "Nino, you are not going on a boat ever, ever."

Nino ignored Aiba. "I count mine as the day this idiot kissed me. Although I guess I have two birthdays now, and should receive presents both days."

Aiba beamed at him. "Nino's really back!"

Sho escaped as Aiba came over to suffocate Nino in a bear-hug again. "Jun-kun, how long are you home?"

"Until tomorrow. I asked for a little extra time, because of a family emergency," Jun said quietly, probably hoping to slip that one past Nino, still squawking and struggling in Aiba's arms.

"I'm family, I'm family, Aiba-chan! Smothering family to death is frowned upon," Nino gasped out, finally escaping Aiba's grasp.

Aiba swooped an arm out, narrowly missing clocking Nino on the head. "I declare today a family holiday, then! We'll each decide something to do and go do it together."

"' _Go_ do it'?" Nino questioned, wrinkling his brow. "Nothing I would choose to do involves going anywhere, you twit."

"It does today," Aiba said cheerfully. "Too bad your birthday was yesterday, you could have asked for anything you wanted. You'll have to wait for your old birthday, I guess."

Sho, hoping to avoid Nino spilling Aiba's blood, said, "I choose the art museum; they have an exhibit in from Russia that I want to see." A chorus of groans met this choice, though Ohno merely looked thoughtful.

"I choose La Primavera for dinner," Jun said predictably. He didn't get to go to his favorite Italian restaurant nearly enough.

"I choose lunch," Ohno said. When they waited for him to elaborate, he scratched his nose, thinking. "I don't know any places around here."

"How about yakiniku, Oh-chan?" Aiba asked excitedly.

"So selfish," Nino said. "It's his choice, not yours."

"Yakiniku sounds delicious," Ohno said, smiling at Aiba.

"Nino?" Sho said. "What do you choose?"

Nino closed his eyes, looking pained. "I choose the zoo."

Sho couldn't hold in his surprised exclamation. " _You_ choose the _zoo_?"

"Nino!" Aiba yelped, stars in his eyes. "Then I choose for us to play video games at home. Let's do that after lunch, and go to the zoo now!"

"Hey, what about the art museum?" Sho asked, offended.

"Why don't we do that tomorrow?" Jun asked, looking bored.

"You won't be here tomorrow!"

"Exactly."

"I'd like to go to the museum," Ohno put in.

"Fine," Nino said. "We'll go to the zoo, then eat lunch, then go to the art museum. Then we'll come home and play games until we go to dinner. Are you happy, Aiba-chan?"

Aiba's face made it clear to everyone that he was even before he could get the words out of his mouth.

+  
\-- _THE ZOO_

"Sho-kun," Ohno said, tugging on Sho's sleeve to get his attention.

"Yes, Satoshi?" Sho's hands were full with the cotton candy Aiba had bought for himself and Nino and subsequently forgotten when he dragged Nino off toward the monkeys. Jun was lagging behind, fiddling with his gigantic sunglasses and floppy hat.

"Where're the fish?"

Sho paused. "Satoshi, the zoo doesn't have fish, that would be the aquarium."

Ohno made a discontented noise. Sho stuck Aiba's cotton candy under Ohno's nose, laughing when Ohno's eyes crossed.

"Now you have cotton candy and I have a hand free," Sho said, reaching out for Ohno's hand. "Does that make up for the lack of fish?"

Ohno smiled, clearly pleased by Sho's touch, but there was still a cranky furrow in his brow.

"And tomorrow we can go to the aquarium," Sho said fondly. "And they have sharks there big enough to chomp on you like this." He took a huge bite of cotton candy and made a fierce face at Ohno.

Ohno shivered, grinning widely.

Jun came up beside them, looking stylish and comfortable even in the hot sun. "Let's catch up with Nino and Aiba-chan before one of them pushes the other in with the monkeys." Ohno held his cotton candy out to Jun, offering, and Sho watched as Jun's face went from startled to pleased before he took an aggressive bite.

+  
\-- _LUNCH_

"Dear lord, Aiba-chan, could you not stuff so much in your mouth at once," Jun groused, looking faintly ill.

Aiba chewed and swallowed, waving his hands in front of him to hold the conversation in place. "Nino said I should put in a piece for each of us! That it'd be lucky, and--" Nino's laughter cut Aiba off, then Aiba swatted him, threatening to stick a hot piece of meat in his mouth, too. They stared at each other for a second, processing that, then collapsed into guffaws.

Jun's mouth twitched, but Ohno looked confused. Sho patted him on the shoulder. "Aiba-chan's a pervert," he said.

"Perverts have the most fun," Aiba said, arm locked around Nino's neck. "You could stand a little perversion in your life, Sho-chan."

"Sex with a robot is automatically kinky, right?" Nino said softly, leering mischievously at Sho. "I hear Oh-chan--"

"Oi!" Aiba said, tightening his arm until Nino couldn't breathe. "Best friends don't push each other into sex with robots."

"I wish they would," Jun said, inspecting his nails and dabbing at a smudge of grease. "I'm getting sick of you all dancing around it. First you two, and now Sho--"

"Jun-kun," Ohno said firmly. Jun looked up, flushing, but Ohno merely smiled. "What does an idol do exactly?"

"Do?" Jun said blankly.

"Matsujun makes people happy," Aiba said proudly, releasing a gasping Nino. "People love him because he's amazing, so when they see him, they forget their worries for a while."

"And he sings and dances," Nino said, rubbing his throat.

"And acts," Sho said. He smiled at Jun, who looked flustered.

"And acts," Nino repeated, nodding. "I saw DVDs on the counter at home, were you in another drama, Jun-kun?"

"Yeah," Jun said, bringing his chin up stubbornly out of his embarrassment. "With Takeuchi Yuko."

"You motherfucker," Nino said bitterly. "You've stolen the dream of my heart, and for that I will never forgive you." He turned to Ohno, smiling as if he hadn't said anything odd. "Let's watch after dinner, okay, Oh-chan? Jun-kun's dramas are the best, because he's ours."

Jun choked on his beer. Sho tried not to do the same, because Ohno's hand had dropped warmly onto Sho's thigh.

+  
\-- _THE MUSEUM, OR ROOSTER: PART TWO_

"An art museum," Nino said, hooking his arm through Sho's. "It's like I'm dead again, but worse."

"You're a little robot heathen," Sho said without heat. "And seriously, Aiba-chan's going to hear you say something like that, and then you'll be sorry."

Nino shrugged. "Don't try to change me, Sho-san. I was programmed this way."

Sho let that go, spying Ohno ahead of them, staring at a painting.

"He's going to be an artist," Nino said, and Sho looked at him sharply.

"Did you see that in whatever that android thing was, when you looked into each other's eyes?"

"So paranoid," Nino whined. "Just look at him now, can't you tell?"

Sho looked back at Ohno, letting his suspicions drop for the moment. "He could be an artist at home, right?" he murmured to himself, not caring that Nino surely heard.

"I'm going to find Aiba-chan and Matsujun," Nino said, slipping out of Sho's hold. Sho walked on alone, as intent on Ohno as Ohno was on the painting.

"Satoshi." The android didn't turn, but shifted slightly toward Sho's voice. Sho stepped up close behind him, looking at the painting, and tried not to jump when Ohno leaned back against his body. It was a painting of a rooster and a tree, slightly metallic and extremely precise. Sho didn't much care about the painting, but he did want to know what was going on in Ohno's head.

"What do you like about this, Satoshi?"

Ohno brought his hand up as if to touch, and Sho stifled the urge to tell him that it wasn't allowed. He was relieved when Ohno's fingers just hovered, tracing the line of the rooster's comb.

"It's so detailed. How long do you think it took, painting this?" He was quiet after that, and Sho leaned forward to find that Ohno had closed his eyes. Leaning brought their bodies in closer contact, and Sho considered putting his arms around Ohno's shoulders, but then Ohno's eyes opened.

"I want to try."

Sho smiled and wrapped his arms around Ohno's shoulders, letting himself enjoy the moment. "We can go to an art supply store tomorrow, too."

Ohno turned his head just enough that Sho could see his eyes crinkle. Then he was studying the painting again, and it wasn't long before he gave a huff of laughter.

"This bird looks like Matsujun."

+  
\-- _HEADING HOME, OR CHECKING SOMETHING OFF JUN'S TO-DO LIST: PART ONE_

Jun's hands were steady on the wheel as Sho quietly fretted about Ohno alone with Nino and Aiba on the train. He knew it was ridiculous, since they were all headed home, but Ohno hadn't been much out of his sight since they'd gotten him, and he didn't like the feeling of not being able to reach over and take Ohno's hand. It was possible he was becoming a hand-holding addict.

"Sho-kun, I'm only here until the morning, and I probably won't get back again for months," Jun said, lowering the volume on the music.

"Ah, sorry, Matsujun," Sho said, feeling guilty for ignoring his friend.

"It's not that," Jun said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, can we skip ahead to the part where you realize you want Satoshi and are all conflicted about it? I shudder to think what advice you'll get from Nino and Aiba-chan."

"Nino gives very good advice," Sho stalled.

"Fast-forward to a time when hand-holding just doesn't cut it because you aren't in high school, Sho-kun." Jun's tone wasn't mocking, but it wasn't patient, either. Sho felt like he was being lectured by a parent and tried to regroup.

"He didn't even go to high school. There are all sorts of ethical issues with androids, I've been watching on the news..."

"I don't see you bringing up these issues with Nino and Aiba-chan," Jun said, implacable. Sho noticed with a small part of his mind that Jun was still tapping his fingers along to the barely audible Michael Jackson song playing over the stereo.

He took a deep breath. "It's different--"

"Why?"

Sho shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. "It hasn't even been a week, seriously, why, why can't you just--and Nino was gone just like that, all right. Satoshi could--"

"Humans die, too, and no amount of rice will bring them back. Get over your shit." Jun's voice wasn't entirely steady, though, and Sho was desperately grateful again that Nino was back. Jun smacked a button and turned off the music completely, then scrubbed a hand over his face.

Sho was silent for a long moment. Then he grumped, "It's only been a couple days."

"It's advice for the future. And don't you dare try to hold my hand."

Sho hadn't been planning on it but this prompted him to grab for Jun's hand, cackling as Jun cursed and slapped at him.

+  
\-- _GAMES, OR CHECKING SOMETHING OFF JUN'S TO-DO LIST: PART TWO_

Aiba and Nino were wrestling over game controllers when Ohno came over and plopped down next to Sho. Jun had already successfully claimed one controller and was staying well out of the fray, focusing on setting up the system.

"Why don't you let Satoshi play?" Jun said absently, fiddling with the buttons. "He's never had a turn, after all, and you two could go find a horizontal surface and experiment with human-android sexuality."

Aiba coughed wildly and waved his hands at Jun, but Nino merely seized the opportunity to claim the second game controller and stared dispassionately at Jun, though his ears were red.

"Maybe we'll experiment right here, Jun-chan, if you're so interested in our sex lives."

Jun narrowed his eyes at Nino, then called his bluff. "Do it, then. Satoshi can learn about the birds and the bees instead of MarioKart, a different kind of education."

"Take your shirt off, Aiba-chan," Nino snapped, not breaking eye-contact with Jun.

"No!" Sho sputtered, finding his voice at last. Ohno was emitting soft chuffs of laughter beside him, but Sho really didn't want to see his friends having sex. He cast about for words, though it seemed like it should be easy to argue against so ridiculous an idea, and finally said weakly, "That... that wasn't in our schedule for today, we're supposed to play games until dinner."

Jun and Nino gave twin noises of derision. "Only you would schedule sex like a dentist appointment, Sho-chan," Nino scoffed. He finally looked away from Jun to glare at Aiba, motioning toward the shirt that Aiba had decidedly not removed. When Aiba just continued coughing, eyes averted, Nino shifted his glare back to Jun.

Then he jutted his chin out stubbornly before swiftly removing his own shirt. Sho gave an embarrassing squeak, and even Ohno grunted in surprise. Despite his distress, Sho found part of himself deeply curious as to Ohno's reaction. He peeked over at the silent android, only to find Ohno staring back at him.

"What, you're going to have sex with your pants on, Nino?" Jun taunted, and Sho tore his eyes away from Ohno's intent expression to gape at his terrible friend.

Nino stood, refusing to be at all cowed, and worked his pants open while glowering at Jun. Sho tried to figure out where the day had gone wrong, but then Ohno chuckled beside him.

"Do couples always have sex in front of their friends?" Ohno wondered softly, not looking away when Nino transferred his scowl.

Aiba's wheezing stopped, though he was still deeply flushed, and he stood up on unsteady legs. "Nino-chan. Um. I had a speech, but--"

Nino's pants dropped to the ground. He stepped out of them, leaving his pale body covered in nothing but garish yellow underwear. Jun tilted his head insolently, clearly unimpressed, but Sho thought Nino was pretty in all his skinny, scowling glory. Sho was still deeply grateful when Aiba finally grabbed Nino's wrist, halting the game of strip-chicken.

"Nino," Aiba said again. He smiled awkwardly, then smoothed his face out into a resolute expression. Giving up on finding the words, he abruptly picked Nino up, one arm under his shoulders and one under his knees, and hitched him up against his chest.

"Hey," Nino protested, struggling in Aiba's arms. Jun just grinned, waving a hand toward the hallway, and Aiba stepped toward the door and out toward the bedrooms, holding tightly to Nino.

Sho sat frozen on the couch, barely registering Nino's voice in the hallway saying, "No, your room, I don't have a futon, hurry up..."

"One down, one to go," Jun said smugly. Movement next to Sho brought his mind back into working order of a sort, and he looked up to see Ohno heading for the abandoned game controller.

"Music," Sho yelped, reddening when they turned toward him. "Why don't we put on some, um, loud music, and then play."

Jun turned back to Ohno, saying, "Go ahead then, Sho-kun. Satoshi, these buttons control your movement. Here, see, that's you on the screen, driving into the wall."

Sho got up from the couch, legs numb, and made his way to the stereo to put the music on loud enough to repress all thoughts of what was going on just one room over.

+  
\-- _DINNER WITH ALL CLOTHES ON_

Jun was still smug at dinner, though Aiba was obliviously happy and Nino determinedly ungrateful. Sho was just glad he hadn't heard a thing, though seeing the way Aiba looked at Nino now was almost dirty enough to count as porn, if it weren't for how desperately sweet his expressions were at the same time. Nino was less demonstrative but no less pleased, Sho could tell. He was quicker to laugh and quicker to touch, and though he spread his attention around to his four companions, Sho caught him gazing besottedly at Aiba on more than one occasion, seemingly when he thought no one would notice.

Aiba and Nino would probably fight all the time and fuck even more, but for the moment Sho was warmly content. Only a week ago, Nino had been dead and Ohno hadn't even been purchased, and now--

Like he could feel Sho thinking about him, Ohno placed his hand on Sho's knee under the table. Sho smiled, covering Ohno's hand with his own, and watched as Nino and Jun shared a piece of gourmet chocolate cake, though Jun ate most of it. Aiba was clearly a little tipsy and a lot exuberant, but they'd be heading safely home soon, and Sho relaxed in his chair, comfortably full and enjoying his friends' company.

+  
\-- _CONFESSION: PART THREE_

"I'm leaving in the morning, probably before you all wake up," Jun said, sitting on the floor and leaning back against the couch in between Sho's knees and Nino's.

"Shh, it's starting," Nino said, eyes transfixed on the opening credits of Jun's latest drama, giving a loud, satisfied noise at the first glimpse of Takeuchi Yuko.

"Should I be jealous?" Aiba wondered aloud, a laugh in his voice and long legs flung over the arm of his chair.

"I've loved her longer than I've lo--" Nino started, then cut himself off, eyes wide, though not nearly as wide as Aiba's. At that moment Ohno came in with the popcorn, not seeming to notice the atmosphere of the room.

"Ah, she's pretty," he said, catching sight of Nino's actress crush.

"I kiss her in a couple episodes," Jun said, looking sidelong at Nino, who shook himself out of his paralysis and immediately began to question whether Jun's lips deserved to be in the same prefecture as Takeuchi Yuko's, let alone in actual contact.

Aiba was still staring at Nino. Finally he blurted, "I love you, Nino!" awkwardly loudly right as the theme song ended. Nino's head whipped around, eyes finding Aiba's. Silence reigned in the room before the drama soundtrack kicked back in, and Sho hoped against hope that all clothes would stay on this time.

Ohno mumbled, "I don't understand. You kiss her? Do you like her?"

Jun blinked at him, bemused. "It's acting, Satoshi, I can't exactly show that my character's kissing hers unless we actually do."

"Ah, I wouldn't want to kiss anyone I didn't want to kiss," Ohno said firmly, if redundantly.

Sho felt Ohno's eyes on him and tried not to look too hopeful. Nino's face had broken into an embarrassed smile, though he hadn't moved toward Aiba, and Aiba had his face buried in his hands, still recovering from his confession.

"It's acting," Jun grumbled, then grinned. "Plus, Yuko-chan has very soft lips."

"I heard that," Nino said distractedly. "But Aiba-chan and I are going to bed so I will let it go just this once, befouler of beloveds."

Sho kept his face carefully blank and said, "Are you going to carry Aiba-chan out this time, Nino?"

"No, but you could do it for me, if you wanted." Nino winked lecherously at Sho and Ohno, then threw back his head in a laugh as Sho felt the briefest touch of warmth on his cheek. Nino towed Aiba out of the room as Sho worked up to the realization that Ohno must have kissed him.

"I need another drama," Jun said, sounding very far away to Sho's ears. "I'm not going to want to come home with you all being gross at every opportunity."

"But I'll miss you, Matsujun," Ohno said sincerely.

"You'll miss my cooking," Jun said, but he sounded pleased.

"We can watch him on tv," Sho said, wincing when it came out a little too loud. He reached for Ohno's hand and clasped it, trying to settle his breathing.

"I'll send you tickets to my next concert, too, Satoshi," Jun promised, belatedly turning off the drama episode no one had been watching.

"Music!" Sho said desperately, hearing a muffled moan from down the hall. Ohno squeezed his hand, and Jun stood, sighing.

"Just this once, just once, you can come up to my room. After tonight, you two are fending for yourselves."

"Jun-kun is my favorite person," Sho sighed solemnly, glad when Ohno laughed even though Jun swatted Sho upside the head for his impudence.

\--/


End file.
